New Zealand’s superannuation settings are coming under increasing scrutiny, and rightly so.

The challenge was described by the Retirement Commission last year: “Soon more than one million New Zealanders will be aged 65 and over... people’s lives are changing. More New Zealanders are living longer, working differently, and facing new pressures around housing and caregiving. These shifts mean we need to continue to check that the system is doing its job and make improvements where it isn’t.”

As the country heads into the 2026 general election on 7 November, CA ANZ is determined to ensure the voice of chartered accountants is heard on the issues that matter most to members and the public.

Results from our recent Member Insights Panel survey make it clear that national superannuation settings are a priority for the New Zealand membership. Across every age cohort, these settings consistently ranked as either the first or second most important policy issue for members. The strength of this result, which cuts across generations, career types and stages, underscores that superannuation settings are not a niche issue, nor a concern confined to older members. It is a cross-generational economic challenge that goes to the heart of New Zealand’s fiscal future.

An ageing population

The two Long‑Term Insights Briefings published last year by Inland Revenue and Treasury align with member concerns. Both briefings point to structural pressures building in New Zealand’s tax base and demographic profile. An ageing population, relatively narrow national income streams and growing expenditure commitments will lead to the country being in an unsustainable fiscal position in the future, in the absence of significant policy changes.

As Dominick Stephens, chief economic advisor at Treasury, said back in 2024: “The fact that we are living longer lives is a great thing. Treasury has repeatedly pointed out that, as lives lengthen, current policies will become unaffordable. What that really means is that fiscal policy, and society more generally, is going to have to adapt.”

Up for debate

The alignment between member sentiment and public‑sector analysis reinforces the importance and urgency of an informed national conversation about the future of our retirement settings. What should this informed national conversation traverse?

One policy that needs to be up for discussion is the age of entitlement to National Superannuation. Ahead of the 2023 general election, the National Party proposed a gradual increase to the entitlement age, although whether this policy is retained as part of National’s 2026 election platform was unclear at the time of writing. Other parties, including Labour and New Zealand First, have historically ruled out lifting the eligibility age, reflecting the political sensitivity about changes to superannuation settings, particularly in the voter base these parties tend to attract.

Means-testing National Superannuation would link support to need. However, this policy setting has long been regarded as complex to implement and politically challenging, given it would signal a shift away from the universality principle that underpins our superannuation settings.

Changes to the indexation method could also be explored. More frequent indexation or alternative indexation methods could improve the long-term fiscal sustainability of the settings, depending on how the policy is calibrated.

Beyond these well canvassed ideas, there are other changes that could be made, such as linking the amount of National Superannuation received to the age at which an individual retires.

Balancing act

Inherent in any policy changes will be trade-offs between sustainability of the settings and income adequacy, fairness and simplicity, as well as short-term political feasibility and long-term fiscal responsibility.

As New Zealand approaches the 2026 general election, the need for clear, evidence-based discussions about our retirement settings has never been greater. These settings intersect directly with tax base settings, fiscal sustainability, economic growth, inter-generational fairness and the financial security of households. And these are issues on which chartered accountants engage every day.